I'm restoring an old Lord Cesterfield brush and have questions.

[Steve V.]

Hi everyone,

I'm doing my first brush restoration and have questions. I got the old bristles out of this brush fairly easily. Inside it looks like there is Plaster of Paris. I believe that water got to it at one point as the bottom plate was pushed out a little. I tried to remove the bottom plate to sand down the swell but the bottom plate broke. Inside the bottom I found this:

It looks looks there are small wood chips in with the Plaster of Paris.



This is the view from the top. The damage around the edge is not from me and the line in the lower left quadrant is a seam, not a crack.



My questions are this. Would you go ahead and remove the Plaster of Paris and refill totally with epoxy and a weight of some type or just seal it at the top with epoxy? Also, can you get really thin plastic to make a new bottom plate at Hobby Lobby or Michaels? If the consensus is to remove the Plaster of Paris, should I drill through it first before I soak it to give it room to expand and not break the handle?

I have step by step pictures of this restoration that I will post when the brush is done.

Thanks,

Steve

[joshgambit]

I had the same problem. Missing bottom and plaster fill. I let it soak, and the plaster came out with in 15 minutes. From there, I made a new base using Kwik-Plastik. It dries to an off-white color. Once it dries, add some to the inside for weight. Then you can proceed with a restore as normal. Look under "Solid Set" for my thread.

[beginish]

This one, Josh?

[joshgambit]

Yepper - thanks for the linky.

[beginish]

Yepper - thanks for the linky.

[FL shaver]

Those chips along the top edge are easily sanded out if you turn it upside down on some high grit sandpaper. Just go slowly so as to take only as much material as needed to get it smooth again.